Controversial opinions on metal

[zabu of nΩd]

Anyone with a brain does.

BM/DM songs =/= Rock songs

...no

Example of a wrong opinion

I could've phrased it a little better, but I've argued along similar lines in the past, and I think I was convincing enough not to have my points dismissed as "utterly wrong".

Here's one of the clearer and more organised posts I've made on this topic (although in this case it refers specifically to death metal).

The genre as a whole has a number of creative disadvantages. For one thing, it was founded with extremeness in mind, and the emphasis in DM songwriting and performance is typically more to 'blow away' the listener with speed, loudness, and chaos than to be diverse or memorable.

Death metal has a pretty specific formula which does not encourage experimentation, or 'straying from the norm'; such deviations often result in a backlash from fans and reviewers, as illustrated in this Morbid Angel review, where the reviewer dismisses "Angel of Disease" as 'punk metal'.

As I said earlier, a lot of extreme metal genres focus more on creating a consistent soundscape than on creating memorable music. I understand that a lot of people here prefer their music that way. However, it's not hard to see that there's a lot less brain power involved in making music that all sounds the same than there is in making unique, memorable, and sonically-diverse music.

You can read more of the debate by checking out that thread. I'll admit that I didn't really check out the DM bands that were recommended to me during the course of the debate, but then I doubt many of you have been trying out new rock bands in the intervening time either.

The prevailing view among the anti-rock crowd seemed to be that rock albums are inconsistent, and contain a lot of filler. While it may be true that the mediocre majority of rock albums contain boring filler, I think this only goes to show how much harder it is to make a good rock album, since it doesn't rely on a curtain of noise to distract you from the actual musical ideas present within it.

A good rock band has to really put a lot of effort into their music to make it excel from song to song. And when it does excel, the results are usually much more impressive since the ideas aren't confined to the narrow scope of sounds that extreme metal is.

 

[General Zaroff]

I'm not a huge fan of Nile but their song Annihalation Of The Wicked is fucking epic. I love that part in the begining where the guitar is wailing.

Behemoth, on the other hand, is one of my favorites.

 

[Zephyrus]

This is towards music as a whole, rather than just metal, but I'd never go and see any band live, no matter how much I might like them. I'd much rather just listen to the music in the solitude of my own home.

Suit yourself, Chicken Man.

 

[Uncreation]

Haha. I'm sure it's enjoyable for most people, I just can't imagine myself enjoying such. I don't have an mp3 player or some such nonsense purely because I can't stand to be around others when listening to the music. And whilst in a live setting everyone is listening to the same thing, I still get the feeling that I'd have the same problem with having other people around. Hell, I'm sure I'd still have the same problem if it was just me and the band there. One of the more irratating aspects of being quite such an introvert, I guess.

 

[Tonka Time]

behemoth's new album is just sorta blah. sorta like they tried to sound more like nile and lost most of the blackend death sound.
Ive always felt the same wy about nile, good band but after a while of listening you sorta need to take a break becuse it gets old.

i still believe it was cus they were on ozzfest that every kid that has just found out about metal is obsessed with nile or behemoth.

 

[Black Friday]

Master Of Puppets is Metallicas worst early album.

 

[Contra dk]

Master Of Puppets is Metallicas worst early album.

not really...

 

[rms]

not really...

I'd agree, but it's not bad/average/good it's great.

 

[Black Friday]

I'd agree, but it's not bad/average/good it's great.

It's still a good album but nowhere near RTL or AJFA.

 

[DarkBliss]

I'd admit that my reacquantance with Master of Puppets has been quite lengthy. In many respects the album simply felt underwhelming. I remember when I was just introduced to MoP, that solo in the middle of the title track just blew me away each time; ha, talk about easily impressionable-- now it sounds very ordinary. But besides the overrated title track, it has The Thing that Should Not Be, Welcome Home(Sanitarium), Disposable Heroes, Orion-- good stuff. Even though overall, I still find that the album sounds dated, but it feels great again to listen to it after several years of neglect.

And yes, AJFA is brilliant, definitely their best.

 

[Contra dk]

... And Justice For All is one of my least favourite Metallica albums.
Because of the huge lack of bass, the production sounds (imo) plain and boring. Now I like long songs, but some of the songs are so drawn out. Seems as a failed experiment in making a prog, trash album. Ridiculously overrated.

 

[DarkBliss]

Production be damned. It simply flows better than any of their preceeding albums, imo.

 

[The Butt]

Production be damned. It simply flows better than any of their preceeding albums, imo.

This. I've made it quite clear before that I think Justice is Metallica's best album. This is another reason why.

 

[rattlematt]

... And Justice For All is one of my least favourite Metallica albums.
Because of the huge lack of bass, the production sounds (imo) plain and boring. Now I like long songs, but some of the songs are so drawn out. Seems as a failed experiment in making a prog, trash album. Ridiculously overrated.

agreed.

This thread persuaded me to give it another listen the other night, and it's still as dull to me as ever. Just can't get into that damn album.

RTL and MOP, on the other hand are classics that deserve all the praise they get.

 

[Life Sucks]

AJFA is my favorite Metallica album. To my ears, it's their darkest and heaviest album. I like all four of the first four albums, though, Ride the Lightning being my least favorite of the four.

 

[The Butt]

Kill 'Em All is actually my least favorite of the first four (yeah, I know, ZOMG BLASPHEMY :O). Never was able to get into that one.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

Well it is pretty simplistic and immature in comparison to the others, so that's completely understandable.

 

[rms]

That one is the most thrashy

 

[Black Friday]

Yeah, that one was the rawest of the four. Didn't spare much for subtleties.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

And it was a pretty groundbreaking album too. Though if they'd continued making albums like that for the rest of their career, they would've been known as "just another thrash band" (even if one of the first), as opposed to "one of the greatest metal bands ever".